The paintings of Swiss artist Helmut Federle can be considered exercises for the observation of an art object. He engages in the tradition of geometric abstraction, renewing and expanding it, exploring the relationship between figure and ground, between order and disorder, and between movement and stillness. Within his work, there is also an enduring interest in the cultural production, symbolism, and relation to nature which the artist found in Pre-Columbian American cultures. His work has been presented in many institutions, such as the Galerie national du Jeu de Paume, Paris; Kunstmuseum, Basel; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes; Tate Modern, London; Albertina, Vienna; Kunstmuseum, Bonn; Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Kunsthaus Zürich; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; and the Venice Biennale.

Helmut Federle has created a highly distinctive oeuvre, characterised by the juxtaposition of a geometric painting style with symbolic, spiritual, and natural elements. His works combine constructive compositions that can be understood as pictorial spaces located in another world. Federle seeks to go beyond his own subjective perception and strives for the universal. Although his compositions tend to appeal to the viewer's capacity for analytical interpretation, their highly symbolic character makes them deeply emotionally resonant. Africa, which at first may appear cold and analytical, upon closer inspection reveals itself to be a complex interplay of thoughts on the artist's being and experience.